


Tell Me You Love Me

by thelemon_isinplay



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Awkward Situation, Fairly Fluffy, Kisses, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 16:39:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1354309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelemon_isinplay/pseuds/thelemon_isinplay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Owen realizes something late one night, leading to some bad advice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Me You Love Me

**Author's Note:**

> This shall be edited later, apologies for typos or general errors of any kind.

There was something in the glance shared between Jack and Ianto that Owen never would have caught if he hadn’t come in to do some late-night work yesterday and ended up regretting it within thirty minutes (an all-time record for him, as he could usually get at least an hour and a half of paperwork done before wanting to stab himself with Tosh’s paperweight). He had glanced up when he heard some strange noises coming from Jack’s office, and when he went to investigate, Ianto was probably in the most compromising position the universe dared to create with Jack and Owen was almost sick on his shoes.

He proceeded to apologise profusely but remain slightly disgusted at the sight that was now permanently etched in his brain as Jack tried to talk him into agreeing to keep this on the down-low while holding his coat closed so he wouldn’t have to bother getting dressed. Owen agreed as long as Jack promised to slip him an amnesia pill sometime within the next forty-eight hours. He had not done so as of yet, a fact which remained painfully at the surface of his mind.

Perhaps it was because Tosh and Gwen were in now with pizzas and Owen remained looking slightly shell-shocked as he realized in small bursts what little he had understood about the interactions between his boss and the Welshman who helped out with the coffees – he was realizing how much they truly must mean to each other that he was shot in the shoulder just because Ianto didn’t think Jack would agree with his latest command decision or the fact that Jack had stared Ianto right in the eyes when he’d said ‘I came back for you.’ The kisses seemed less personal than ‘I’m about to die, I know that, and you’re the closest one to where I’m standing’ sort of things, but no, nothing could ever be so simple. And just when he’d thought he had Jack finally figured out.

Fling? Fuck buddies? Relationship? Who could tell? This was _Jack Harkness_ he was talking about here, enigmatic man wrapped in mystery and stuffed into an enigma that was shrouded in mystery, and Ianto Jones, best poker face from here to the other side of the world in both directions and back as well as the best secret-keeper Owen had ever met. Keeping Lisa hidden had taken such finesse, especially seeing as not a single person had found out until it was too late.

So yes, Owen’s tired mind may not have been focusing exactly as clear he would’ve liked, but that was only because he had spent all night curled up on the Torchwood couch with noise-cancelling devices (aka cotton puffs) jammed into his ears thinking about all the implications under a shock blanket that Tosh had accidentally stolen from an emergency vehicle that was coloured a sort of pale cream type of thing that was meant to be relaxing but just made him think of skin. Why hadn’t he noticed before? Apparently he had spent all day in a fevered sleep that was a combination of thoughts blending on top of one another and reoccurring like the waves at high tide and an illness he had caught walking up to the Hub from his flat.

Jack neglected to mention the fact that when Owen woke up, he had a small pile of blankets on him as well as an assortment of pillows and that Ianto was at the ready with a mug of tea. The girls came in just then with pizza, and Owen was left thinking further and overanalyzing all aspects of his time spent in the room with Jack and Ianto and looking as if he’d just seen a ghost. He realized three things as he went to sip his tea; one, the fact that he had asked to be given a temporary amnesia pill; two, the fact that he had not yet taken a sip of his tea; and three, he actually didn’t want to forget. Knowing just made it all seem so much clearer to him, however difficult it was to process the first time. So that’s why he paused, just for a second.

“Ianto, can I ask you something?” he said quietly, below the chatter of the rest of the group and the laughter at Jack’s anecdotes.

Ianto leaned in, sensing Owen’s desire to keep this matter between them correctly, and nodded tersely.

“Did you drug my tea?” Owen asked.

Ianto had a nasty habit of glancing at his shoes or fumbling to straighten his tie right before he lied, making it obvious unless he had planned upon this happening. “No,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay if you did. Jack probably told you to,” Owen said, earning a small sideways glance from Ianto and then a barely perceivable nod. “I just wanted to say that… I don’t want to forget.”

At this Ianto looked confused, lending way for Owen to explain why he wanted to remember his boss fucking the coffeeboy. “N-no, I mean, I don’t want to remember that moment exactly, just that you two are together,” Owen explained quickly.

Ianto still wore a confused expression, but it was slightly less disgusted than before.

“It makes things seem so much simpler,” Owen continued. “It makes Jack seem more like a human and less like an outsider. The fact that he’s in love… it just changes the way I see him as a person.”

“Hmm,” Ianto said, staring intently down at his shoes. His cheeks were growing steadily warmer, and his blush deeper. “Do you really think he’s in love?”

Owen had often given consideration to how long to respond to any difficult question, no matter the situation. If he answered too quickly, then it would seem as if he were lying or had something to hide. If he answered too slowly, it might look like he had to consider the question in-depth before committing to an answer. In this case, there needed to be a certain amount of consideration, but not too much. His reaction had to be timed perfectly, or else Ianto would think he was lying.

Four seconds later, Owen gestured to Jack with a small nod of his head. “You can see it in his eyes.”

Ianto smiled sheepishly.

“You should tell everyone,” Owen suggested without thinking.

Ianto spoke before Owen had a chance to contradict his earlier statement. “Yes. Yes, I should do that,” Ianto concluded, standing.

He sat on the coffee table next to Jack. When given a slightly questioning and (as per usual) slightly suggestive look from Jack, Ianto simply leaned in and kissed him, a hand at the back of his neck and on his thigh. Tosh and Gwen sat, shocked, as this occurred, but Owen just kind of smiled. When the two broke apart about a minute later, Ianto breathed against Jack’s mouth, “I love you.”

Jack just grinned. “Decided to tell everybody, Yan?”

“Well, yes and no – I just really wanted to tell you that.”

“Mmm. Well, Ianto–” –a quick pause to steal another kiss ensued– “–Love you, too.”


End file.
